Dave Crellin

Just as I began to sleep at night....

I too got my 96 C4 with a slight exhaust-side tapping, noticable only when next to a wall. I had the whole set of lifters changed and it was quieter, but not completely gone. I even took it back to the Porsche dealer and we put my car running next to another. Mine had a louder tapping, but none were truly silent.

Anyway, a few weeks later, I started up and heard the infamous spoon in a bowl of glass marbles noise (driver's side again), and was freaked. Now I've heard of this happenning immediately after an oil change, but this was after nothing out of the ordinary. Quick oil check showed the level was low in the range but ok. Put some more oil in and it's not happenned since, and now I check the oil almost daily.....

Now reading all the valve guide threads, I fear that this is a potential problem, perhaps exacerbated by low oil levels.

I know it's a stupid question, but if a previous owner let the oil level drop way too low even for a short time, could this alone cause the lifters and/or guides to wear so rapidly?

Doc Vorce

Over a year ago, I talked with a certified Porsche technician about some valve train noise in my car. Without hesitation, he told me to switch from 15W-50 Mobil 1 to 5W-30 Mobil 1 or to wait for a 0W-40 forumlation of Mobil 1.

I've been using 0W-40 Mobil 1 since that version of Mobil 1 became available in America during the spring of 2001. The valve train noise has been virtually eliminated.

Rob O'Meara

Dave,

This is what I think has happened to my car. The problem is exacerbated in the turbos since the exhaust heats up to much higher temperatures than stock cars. I am always used Mobil 1 0W-40 in the engine but have recently switched to a thicker viscosity oil to see if that helped. No change.